


To look / Quite through the deeds of men

by samjohnsson



Category: Fringe, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-14
Updated: 2013-05-14
Packaged: 2017-12-11 21:04:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/803252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samjohnsson/pseuds/samjohnsson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every event, however minor, is seen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To look / Quite through the deeds of men

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired, instigated, betaed, and otherwise motivated by the amazing [kerithwyn](http://archiveofourown.org/users/kerithwyn)

September understood his compatriots' compulsion for studying the other ships. Historically, the impact of the _Enterprise_ s, the _Voyager_ , the _Kai Nerys_ , the _T’Pau_ —they all were important to observe. And July had more or less moved permanently into an outpost around B'hava'el, to observe the proceedings around that artificial nexus.

But the _William Bell_ microcosm was particularly fascinating.

A significant portion of the human crew was biologically enhanced in clear disregard for Terran biases. (He made a note to travel back and observe how those experiments occurred.) Yet in spite of it, the full crew functioned at a level significantly above expectation. September had been sent to observe unique moments in various histories and seek knowledge, and it could not be denied that such a crew was unique among the closer timeline variants.

Unfortunately, Terran science in the mid 2200s was beginning to become respectable. In previous decades and in other locations, he could just observe quietly. But on a self-contained ship that could easily detect an extra humanoid, the usual techniques would not reliably work without continual investment of resources.

Hence here and now. Hence the usual armistice with the meddlers from the 29th century. Hence minor body modification to pass more closely as a hominid race of this period. Hence a piece of data engineering to add a computer science crewman named Donald O’Connor to the ship’s records. Hence an implant that convinced the bioscanners to read him as a near-human alien, not a post-human variant.

The results were worth the effort, however. The documentation of the effects of artificial stimulation on the Terran psychic metacomplexus alone justified the resources, given the several nodal events that would define timelines over the next two centuries. It was also a valuable study on the societal progression of Terran biases against augmentation in any form acquired immediately after the Khanate debacle.

For the most part, the assignment was a fairly simple observation. Authorized access to the computer core meant that September could compile crew logs easily, gaining not only the impartial views of the events but also the personal ones. (Dr. Stanton’s and Dr. Lane’s comments were both automatically flagged by his own software.) And his gamma-shift duty assignment didn’t require him to interact with very many of the Cortexiphan subjects (or the rest of the crew), which reduced the risk to his observation.

There were other dangers, however. Obviously, he had to be careful near Dr. Lane and Ensign Phillips, in case either man noticed his thought patterns. And the captain’s panoply of powers made her a hazard to any Observer at the most inopportune times.

Commander Bishop was more surprising. For someone who consistently tested as completely psi-null, he had an ability to see patterns and solutions that bordered on uncanny. (Commander Lee was as perceptive, but he was lately distracted.) The uncertainty concerned him.

And he wasn’t certain as to the nature of the Rec Officer. By all scans, Chief Weiss read as contemporary human. And yet Weiss knew, from the very first time “Donald” ordered a meal, to add extra habaneros without any prompting. He would catch Weiss just watching the lounge, as if Weiss were waiting for something, and writing in a leather-bound journal of some sort. While scanning for temporally-foreign technology was tempting, September refused to commit the indiscretion that re-lit the Temporal Cold War in this timeline.

The Ferengi (he made a note to verify when first contact was made with the Federation and send a recording device) had a rule, among many others: “The riskier the road, the greater the profit.” With all that could go wrong with this observation, he knew it was a risky road, indeed. But given the knowledge to be gained, he would remain here and observe. For now.

Until it became time to act.

**Author's Note:**

> If you tell me Kira Nerys doesn’t end up with a ship named after her, I will laugh at you. Likewise T’Pau.
> 
> B’hava’el is the canon name for the Bajoran primary and the Celestial Temple orbit. Considering all the shenanigans that the Prophets got up to, I’d be surprised if there wasn't a small armada of Observers lurking.
> 
> Earth, in Star Trek, had a tiny bit of a bias against improving on the standard model, mostly due to the augmentation experiments that led to World War III and the Great Collapse afterward. Those cultural biases extended clear to the late 2300s, when cybernetic augmentation was still in trial phases and genetic modification was societally verboten–and illegal, besides! The Cortexiphan trials would have sent people into an utter tailspin.
> 
> The Temporal Cold War was very much a thing, and not just in _Enterprise_. Janeway had more than enough of the 29th-century meddlers, as well as direct experience with what happens when you try to “fix” a timeline.
> 
> Federation technology in fact did have several quantum leaps forward in the 2200s, especially in sensors—mostly in response to the cloaking race the Romulans and Klingons were running.
> 
> I’ve always assumed that an Observer would fall into an uncanny valley of “not looking quite right” to a medical scanner. Best solution? Highlight those differences, rather than cover them. Humans got everywhere, after all, and slept with most of what they found.
> 
> The 62nd Rule of Acquisition is probably in every businessman’s office, ever. The 74th–“Knowledge equals profit.”–seems more the tacit mantra of the Observers. But then, September’s never been exactly by-the-book.
> 
> And the title comes from our dear friend Billy S., in his little ode to King Julius:
>
>> He reads much;  
> He is a great observer, and he looks  
> Quite through the deeds of men.


End file.
